Your hotel in Aswan (Please advise your hotel at the time of booking. If you do not have this information now, please contact the local activity operator 24 hours prior to the start of the tour with these details.)

Overview

Enjoy a felucca ride on the Nile to the Coptic Saint Simeon Monastery, dating back to the 6th century. Sit back and enjoy the view of the Egyptian landscape as you make your way to the monastery ruins on a camel. You will be surprised to see that though this Coptic monastery is in ruins, many of its main features like the oblong, domed Christian church, its frescos, the tower, the tombstones and the kilns are well preserved.

Take a walk around the monastery and discover the ruins of the upper and lower terrace, the principal church, the refectory, the vaulted corridor and more of what constituted this uniquely structured monastery in ancient Egypt.

Itinerary

In the morning, you will be picked up from your hotel in Aswan in an air-conditioned coach. Accompanied by a guide, you will be taken to the Nile and board a felucca (an Egyptian sailing boat) for a trip to the Saint Simeon Monastery. You will have to take a camel ride (about 15 minutes) to the site of the monastery located about 1200 metres from the west bank of the Nile. The monastery is also known as Anba Hatre.

The monastery dates back to the 16th century and is one of the most intact Coptic monasteries of old standing. You will come across a church with frescoes of Jesus Christ and saints. The principle church of the monastery was built in the first half of the 11th century and represents the first of its kind in Egypt. Though only the lower part of the church remains, it is an important example of a domed oblong church. In the ground floor of the archaeological site, you will come across a refectory, together with rows of cells that flank a vaulted corridor. You will also find an oil press, wine press, storage wings, stables and pottery kilns among others.

After exploring the ancient relics at St. Simeon Monastery, you will be dropped back to your hotel in Aswan.

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